Time is Running Out
by Panda91593
Summary: Alice O'Malley is hit by a truck on an icy street. She slips into a coma that has landed her in Wonderland. What mishaps and misadventure will she encounter here?
1. Chapter 1

Chapter one of Revision and Editing

See The New Wonderland if you don't know what I mean. Other wise, read on.

* * *

Alice O'Malley wandered around the freezing forest for hours. She pulled her coat tighter against her and let out a sigh. The air was so cold that her breath showed up as a puff of was taking in the freezing hell that she called her hometown. She figured that a long walk would help her figure out what was missing in her life.

"I need boyfriend. That's it, a boyfriend. Someone I could spend all of my extra time with and be happy." Alice mumbled, kicking the dirt and looking about the forest for the thousandth time. The landscape hadn't changed, and the trees didn't have the answers. Alice came here on days off from her college classes; she was going to school to be an English teacher. The forest was a calm place, so serene in it's various seasons, it helped her to think about what was important in her life.

A laugh vibrated off the trees around her. Alice looked around and saw no one. She could hear some kids laughing in the distance. Then the laugh sounded again.

"I'm weird-ed out. This joke isn't funny!" Alice said and ran for the road up above. She knew it was probably nothing more than some neighbor kids playing a prank on her, but it scared her.

Alice reached the dirt road and began running as fast as her feet could carry her to her house. She could feel the gravel -where the snow had melted- hitting the back of her coat like someone was throwing it at her. Alice slipped and went tumbling into a snowy ditch; her head hit a large rock, she quickly shook it off and got back up, running at the same pace. There wasn't time to stop and worry about her head, someone was watching her, she could feel it.

A car horn blared as Alice crossed the street to go into her house. A brand new black and silver Dodge Ram 4x4 veered out of control on the icy road and smashed right into her going at least 60 mph. Alice lay on the ground, unmoving.

The driver got out of the car and ran to Alice. He lifted her head and felt her neck for a pulse. "Hello? Can you hear me?" he asked pushing up her eyelid to see if she was faking unconsciousness. After much shaking and nudging her, he realized she was actually hurt. The driver searched her coat pockets and jeans for some sort of identification; he found none. Lifting her up off the road, he set her in the passenger seat of his truck.

The man decided he would talk to her while he drove to the hospital, even though he knew she couldn't hear him and wouldn't respond to his conversation. He was very nervous and he knew that if she died, he could never live with himself.

"My name is Theodore Hatter. I'm so sorry for hitting you, the truck was sliding down the hill, there's just so much ice, and I'm really sorry. Please don't sue me. What's your name?" Theodore asked looking over at the limp body; his heart sank. "Of course, you can't answer. I'll call you Jane, since it's a very generic name. Oh! They will ask me your name at the hospital, but I won't know. This is bad, bad, bad, bad." He said shaking his head vigorously as he pulls the truck into West Point Medical Center's parking lot that had been only a few blocks away.

Theodore lifted her out of the passenger seat and carried her though the emergency doors. An older nurse with gray hair and a nametag with name Harriett scribbled on it ran to help him carry her. Another nurse who was considerably younger than the first started asking all sorts of questions. Theodore's mind slowed down and everything became completely surreal.

The nurse bombarded him with questions. "What's her name? Her age? Where does she live? What happened? Who are you to her? Is she allergic to any medications? Sir? Sir?"

"I don't know." He said slowly as if he were speaking through another person. Alice was wheeled down the hall on a stretcher.

Alice was checked into a private room and the younger nurse sat down Theodore outside of it. "Now honey, I need you to start answering my questions." The nurse said sitting beside him.

"What is her full name?"

"I don't know. My truck slid out of control and hit her, I checked for an ID but she didn't have one."

The nurse scribbled down everything that he said. "Well that answers just about all of my questions. If you don't know her name then you won't know where she lives, her age, or anything of the personal sort. I just need your name and then we'll keep you informed as the evening progresses." She said standing up and holding out her hand to shake. Theodore shook her hand and looked up. "I'm Theodore Hatter."

Smiling, the nurse said, "I'm Annie, if you need anything else, I'll be at the nurse's station." Annie pointed to a small round desk in the center of the hall. "Over there."

Theodore held his head in his hands and decided to take a nap until they had deduced what was wrong with Alice. In a matter of minutes Annie, the nurse, came over to him and set her hand upon his shoulder. Theodore looked up at her fully expecting some lawyer to pop out from behind the nearest doorway to slap a lawsuit on him.

"Doctor Wicket says that she appears to be in a coma. There is good news though, we found out who she is because she had on an allergy bracelet." The nurse named Annie held her clipboard a few inches from her face. "Her name is Alice O'Malley, she is," the nurse looked up at the corkboard ceiling and counted silently to herself. "23 years of age and allergic to cephalosporin's. If you'd like to stay here, I'm going to have you sign in as a visitor."

Theodore nodded and stood up. "I should probably stay just in case her family can't be contacted. Where do I sign in at?"

Annie motioned for him to follow her to the nurse's station.

A loud beeping that turned into ringing in the distance snapped Alice out of a sound sleep. It sounded almost like an old time telephone, one that you would see in an old black and white film. She looked around to see that she was in the forest.

Alice grabbed her head. "Did I hit my head?"

The phone started ringing again and there were voices in the distance.

"Has someone come to my forest, and just what the hell is that irritating ringing?" Alice joked running towards the direct of the noises.

The snow flew up around her legs as she picked up the pace. The ringing got louder and the voices grew quieter as Alice drew closer. Then she saw it, the phone that is. To Alice's surprise, it was actually a phone hanging on a tree in the middle of the forest. Alice checked all around her and concluded two things; she was bat shit crazy and she was hearing voices, or that phone, which was connected to absolutely nothing, was ringing and there weren't any people around.

Alice let out a little cry of disbelief when it began ringing again. "Ha! I've lost my mind. I can see it now," she motioned her hands in the air to give emphasis. "College student goes insane at 23!" She dropped her hand to her sides and stared intently at the phone. "How can it be ringing?"

The phone continued to ring even though it wasn't connected to anything but a nail and a tree. Alice figured there was no use in letting it ring and picked it up. She held it up to her ear for a few second before calling out a faint 'hello'.

　

Theodore sat in an old wicker chair beside Alice's hospital bed. The nurse told him that she would try to contact her family and until she did, it'd be best if he stayed.

"Alice?" he asked, Alice remained unmoving in her flower printed hospital gown. "They say that when people are in a coma, they know subconsciously what's going outside of their body. Looks like I'll be having a lot of one-sided conversations with you." Theodore laughed sadly to himself.

　

"Alice." A male voice said from the other end.

Alice's voice shook; she had always been a terrible liar. "No, this is not her. Can I take a message?"

"You are a poor liar."

Her eyes got wide and her body shook as her eyes swept the premises. "Excuse me? Who is this?"

The man laughed dark and childishly, like this was some sort of sick and twisted game. "I can see you Alice."

"What? How can you see me?" Alice demanded looking around wildly. There was a loud pop and the receiver cord thumped against the tree, she was holding a cordless phone.

"Goodbye Alice." He said, with a slight chuckle to his voice.

"Wait! Who is this? How do you know my name? How is this phone even working?!" Alice screamed into the receiver and bashed it against the tree until it had broken in half.

Alice held her arms close to her chest and looked around; nothing was out of the ordinary. Only thing worth mentioning was a pile of old junk sitting in a heap a few yards away from her. Nothing special, people dumped stuff down there all the time. However, she couldn't recall ever having seen it there before.

She had a nagging urge to go over and inspect it. Probably not her best choice, but one that she made nonetheless. A shattered mirror sat on the top of the heap. It looked like a rock had been dropped on it, or something else heavy. There were children's toys too; dolls, rocking horses, dragons, and things printed with butterflies. She looked into the broken glass and saw a black shadow behind her head, hovering just out of reach. Alice jumped and jerked her head around wildly, but the black mass was gone.

"Must have been my imagination." Alice thought.

She ran to her house only a few blocks away, slammed the door behind her and locked it tight.

Alice looked at the picture of my parents who died six years earlier. She was only 16 then, and the last member of her family. She would have been put in a foster home had it not been for her father's will, which specifically stated that she would not go to a foster home and that she was to live alone or be placed within the care of her family. He had also left her his entire fortune.

"My father knew I wouldn't do well with strangers." Alice sighed.

Even with all the money she could possibly need, being alone made her venerable to stalkers and even more scared when weird things were happening around her.

"I could call David." Alice said reaching for her house phone by the front door. David was her best friend who she went to college with for a year until he moved. He had gotten a better offer at Eastlake College a few towns over. So, he left West Point College and moved in with his boyfriend Alex. Alice only ever heard from him when he needed advice or on special occasions.

There was knocking at the door that scarred the phone right out of Alice's hands. It was loud and unfriendly, definitely one that she didn't recognize. Alice grabbed a large vase that had belonged to her mother off the bookcase by the door and held it up like a bat just in case the visitor wasn't to friendly.

"H-hello?" Alice yelled, eyes locked on the door handle, fingers gripping the vase like her life depended on it.

The handle shook violently as if the visitor was a burglar or something, and hadn't heard her say hello.

"Hello!" Alice yells louder and grips the vase tighter.

"Open the door Alice." A voice from the other side demanded. A shiver traced Alice's spine up and down like the

"Who is it?!"

"It's David." The voice calls in a monotone voice.

Alice didn't believe it was David, relying solely on the fact that he has never sounded like Ben Stein. Alice grabbed a small monitor off the bookcase and flipped it on. The camera links up to the peek hole in the door, the technology was courteously of her father's job within the government when he was still alive. It was similar to that of a car's camera on the back to see while you are backing out.

Alice looked out on the intruder and seen that it was clearly not David. This person has no facial features, just the outline of a face and stark white skin with an ace set where a nose would be.

"Come on Alice. Open the door." The thing said shaking the handle again.

Alice inched close to the basement door under the stairs not to far from the front door and opened it silently. She crept down the stairs after locking the door behind her. Alice opened the door at the bottom and entered the basement, locking that door behind her as well. The entire room was steel plated because her parents had used it as a panic room when they were still alive.

Alice looked at the monitor in her hand and saw that the door had been opened and the cam was now open and looking at the kitchen. She began to shake slightly and went to a large wooden cupboard.

Throwing back the doors, she dug through the shelves of caned and boxed food, searching for the pistol her father kept hidden behind them when she was little.

Alice found the gun and a box of bullets along with it. She hadn't actually had any training in firing a gun before.

"I'm sure if I have to. I can."

Alice opened a pantry door against the east wall made of faux wood and sat down inside with the door shut. She held the gun close to her pounding chest, ready to aim and fire at anything that moved on the other side of the door.

I Alice sat in silence for a good ten minutes before she realized that the pantry she was sitting in had not been completely dark. There was a light coming from beneath the floorboards. She felt the sides of the small enclosure and sure enough she found a switch, flicked it and the floor fell out from under her. Alice had toppled down a small staircase and slammed into a dirt wall.

The room was just tall enough for her to stand up. A small click behind Alice caused her to jump and almost fire the gun. The doorway she had fallen through closed back up and locked.

"I suppose this is pretty safe." Alice muttered to herself.

She started thinking, and realized that she had never seen this area of the house before. It was more than likely only supposed to be temporary and that's why it was only dirt and not bricked in, she presumed. Alice looked around for the light source and found it to be a small crack in the wall. As she approached it, Alice saw that there was a cover over the light and it wasn't a crack in the wall, but instead it was a large mirror covered with a drape. She pulled the cover and exposed a mirror as tall as she was and just as wide.

It shined and shimmered like the surface of an undisturbed lake in the springtime. Alice couldn't see her reflection, but only the watery surface. She touched it and her hand went straight though. Alice snatched her hand away immediately and held it close to her chest. Mirrors were definitely not supposed to be able to touch beyond the surface.

The 'glass' felt like water and it was freezing cold. Alice was half debating whether she was going to throw a dirt clod through it when she was drawn to the sound of feet above her. The intruders had broken into the panic room.

It sounded to Alice like there were at least six men walking around above her. The voices were muffled and she couldn't understand anything they were saying. It was only a matter of time before they found out she was under the floorboards.

It was then that Alice realized she left the bullets for the gun up above. Popping the clip out of the gun, she saw she only had two bullets loaded into it. Alice's only choice was to take these guys on in one on one combat if they ever found her. They way she saw it, she had three choices; get caught and die, get caught and kill them which would make her a murderer, or find another way out of the dirt room. Alice looked around, just dirt and the mirror with it's drape over it. The mirror wasn't solid. Could she go through it? This sounded absurd to Alice but in her desperate situation, it made perfect sense.

She waltzed up the mirror, stuck her hand through the glass again, and felt around. There weren't any objects in the way, other than the fact the watery substance had a temperature so cold it could give her hypothermia, she thought it was a great idea.

Alice felt something grab her wrist. She screamed but just before she got the chance to pull her hand back, something was pushed into her hand. Upon instinct, Alice dropped the item in her hand as if it were poisonous. A small ball of yellowed paper sat on the floor in front of the mirror. Alice picked it up and examined it. The paper was an edge of a book and there was a small note scribbled across the blank margin. It read YOU HAVE ONE MINUTE.


	2. Chapter 2

sorry about weird spaces

* * *

Alice looked back up at the mirror in terror, fully expecting something to break through and murder her where she stood. Instead, the footsteps above stopped and then there was a loud banging on the trap door. Frightened, she took one last glance about the room and ran into the mirror. The cold feeling engulfed her body and sucked every bit of warmth. Her breathing hitched and even though there was clearly air to breath, she felt as though she were drowning. Her eyes burned, but she couldn't close them, her ears filled with a loud humming and then, POP! The room was swimming, spinning and doing back flips. Her stomach flopped and she could feel bile rising in her throat.

"Graceful."

Alice looked around to place a face to the voice. She moved to fast, the bile rose and she threw up her breakfast.

"Those were my new shoes!"

"Who's there?!" Alice yelled wiping the vomit from the side of her lip.

A man squatted down beside her and held her hair back as she threw up again. "What the hell is wrong with me?" Alice cried between heaves.

"It appears the trip disagreed with your body."

After much deep breathing, Alice felt fine and the room stopped swimming. The man who held her hair sat across from her. He was short, chubby and looked quiet like a mouse. He had greasy gray hair and a white mustache the stuck out every which way. The faint smell of cheese wafted by her and she crinkled up her nose.

"Did you give this to me?" Alice asked pulling the torn page from her hand and showing it to the mousy man.

"Yes. So glad you got it. The boss will be here shortly." said the mousy man as he stood up. There wasn't much difference between the fact of sitting and standing with this man.

Alice was puzzled. The boss? Who was the boss? For that fact, where was she? She glanced over at the pile of what was once her breakfast. It made her stomach churn to look at it. A stack of newspapers sat near her, so she grabbed a few and covered the mess. Alice stood up and smashed her head against the ceiling.

"Ow!" She cried sitting back down.

"Do be careful. You are quiet large for my dwelling." The mousy man said from a desk nearby.

Alice stood once again, careful this time to hunch over. She walked to the door and stepped out of the mousy man's room. The room she entered was huge. Something was surely wrong with her size. There was a great many people sat around a long dinner table talking, laughing and screaming at each other. They were giants and the furniture was gigantic too!

A tall man with dark hair and a formal vest on stood up and looked over the table to see Alice staring at his guests in awe. He grinned, picked up a black and blue fedora and placed it on his head. "Everyone! We have another guest!" he announced loud enough to stop the guests from talking. All of them turned to look down at Alice; they really were a strange group of people. One of them was a large bird, another, a hare. There was a carpenter seated close to Alice there was a fat man whom resembled a walrus, as well as a chef, and a chimney sweep.

Alice waved lightly and the group burst into laughter. Why this was funny, Alice would never know.

The man whom had a hat, and drew the attention to her, walked around the table and sat down on the floor beside her. He smiled kindly and pulled a small doll chair out of his vest pocket. "Won't you join our tea party?"

"Tea party?" Alice asked sitting in the tiny chair the man placed before her.

"Yes ma'am." He said tipping his hat lightly.

"Wait. A small mousy man, I'm shrunken, there is a tea party going on. The guests include and large bird, a hare, a chef, a carpenter and a walrus. Well damn, I must be in Wonderland there is even a hatter. What the hell kind of dream is this?" Alice thought. "May I ask a question?" Alice asked and the man leaned down close.

"Yes."

"Would this happen to be Wonderland?" Alice asked.

Before the man could respond, the part guests roared with laughter. The hare threw cups and the cook screamed about more pepper for her food.

"Well of course it is my dear. Don't you know anything?" The walrus sized man said ducking to avoid the hare's flying cups.

Alice felt insulted. How was she to know where she was, she'd only just arrived, and it certainly didn't make any sense for her to be in the world that existed in a book. "I know lots of things! Besides I just woke up here!"

The man beside her lifted her up with his thumb and index fingers. "Wouldn't you care to be of a greater size?" It was such a random time for this question. It had not answered her question about Wonderland, or justified the fact that she knew things. Alice thought about it for a moment and then nodded. She feared that if she opened her mouth to speak, she would be criticized in some crude way again.

"Eat this." The man said holding up a large petty four cake. Alice took a great big bite, which in reality was no larger than a few crumbs. The man dropped her and she sailed to the ground, growing large every second.

Soon Alice's legs met the floor and she stood the same height as the chef whom had stood up in a fit of rage. For there was tea all over her white hat.

"I'm Hatter. These are my friends." Said the man whom feed her the cake, he was now standing. "What's your name?"

"I'm Alice. This incident is so funny because this is Wonderland and my name is Alice." She said laughing lightly, Hatter chuckled a bit too and then she found herself looking at the guests whom had been so lively before. All of them hadn't found what she said to be funny in the least.

"Why is that funny to you?" The carpenter asked sipping his tea.

Alice was turning red. She couldn't believe how degrading these people could be. "Well see there is this book called Alice in Wonderland and it's very absurd and silly, but very well written. It's one of my favorite pieces to read on a rainy day. None of this matters anyways though; I'll wake up in a few minutes, so it doesn't matter if you understand my joke about Wonderland."

All of the guests were again, completely bemused. "What do you mean wake up? You are awake, girl." Said the large bird and pecked at a piece of cake.

"No I'm not." Alice laughed. "Of course none of you exist, and I'm dreaming."

Hatter touched Alice's arm and pulled her to the corner of the room. He looked gravely serious. "Alice." He said.

The smiled faded from Alice's face as she looked at Hatter. "What is it?" she asked quietly. The guests had gone back to their talking and screaming.

"I know where you came from. This is a dream of sorts. Alice, you're in a coma." Hatter said touching her arm lightly.

"What? How? I don't understand."

David burst thought the door to Alice's hospital room and saw Theodore sitting in a chair beside the bed. He immediately thought, who the hell is this guy? Nevertheless, he stopped himself because he didn't know if the guy was her boyfriend or something. "Hello?"

Theodore sat up drowsily and rubbed his eyes. "Oh, I didn't think she'd ever have any visitors."

"Uh, yeah. I'm her best friend. I live in WestPoint. I went to her house to visit and she wasn't home. Her neighbor is a nurse here; she told me she was in the hospital." David said scratching his head. "Who are you?"

"I'm Theodore Hatter. I, err, hit her with my car." Theodore said fully expecting David to yell at him or something.

"Thanks for staying with her. She doesn't have anyone besides me."

Theodore looked surprised. He found it hard to believe she didn't have any family. "Absolutely nobody else? Family?"

David shook his head slowly. "Her parents died when she was sixteen. Grandma died shortly after."

Theodore hadn't any idea. It was no wonder nobody had come to visit yet. It had been two days since the accident. This world was to dangerous to live alone. If she died, nobody would know until they went looking for her.

Alice sat down in an oaken dinning chair several feet from the other guests. She was having a hard time registering what Hatter told her. Normally she would have questioned this situation as if it were some sort of joke. This time she knew better, she could feel the seriousness in hatter's voice when he told her about the coma.

A few minutes later Hatter walked over to Alice's chair and set a hand on her shoulder. "It'll be alright. I know how to make you wake up."

Alice wasn't going to buy his methods. They were probably something along the lines of getting drunk off tea or something. Out of sheer curiosity, she asked, "How?"

"The mirrors." He said simply as if it were known fact.

"That shouldn't be too hard. I'll just go back through the one I came through." Alice said smiling.

Hatter groaned a little bit. "Well it's not that simple."

"Not that simple? Why?"

"First off, that mirror was teeny tiny, and I can't make you small again. Second, once a mirror is used once it becomes null and void."

Alice could just cry. Now she had to find another mirror that hadn't been used. "Well. I'll just find another mirror. Not so hard, right?"

A small sigh passed over Hatter's mouth. "Wrong. Most of the mirrors in Wonderland have been used up, or taken by the royalty."

Alice was screwed. She had a one in a billion chance of finding a usable mirror that wasn't in the clutches of royalty. Even if she did get a hold of a mirror, who was to say it would make her wake up or not?

Suddenly the lights went out in the small room. Darkness engulfed each and every one of the guests, which caused more yelling and extreme panic. Alice was afraid of the dark, deathly afraid. It wasn't so much of the darkness it's self, but rather, what was in the darkness. She knew she shouldn't worry. The only things in the dark were the guests, Hatter and herself. Still, Alice couldn't help but feel uneasy, like there was something more to the situation.

A hand touched her arm and she nearly screamed when Hatter whispered in her ear. "It's just me. We need to get out of here."

Not that Alice was against leaving the dark room, but she was curious as of why Hatter wouldn't just want to wait for the light to come back on. "Why?"

"Jokers." He whispered.

"Why is he whispering?" Alice thought, but said, "Jokers?"

Hatter pulled Alice up by her arm and dragged her through the darkness "Not good news. Just come on." A light was visible under what was most likely a door. Hatter pushed through the supposed door.

Alice looked at her surroundings. They were outside, on a front porch of sorts. They sky was dark and all the grass and flowers were dead. It was as if the life had been sucked out of everything.

"This place is really grim, isn't it?" Alice asked looking around at the depressing sight.

"Not usually. The Jokers have done this. We need to keep moving." Hatter hissed pushing a button from a ring of keys that he pulled from his vest pocket. There was a loud rumbling and then a large garage door opened on the side of the house opposite them.

"You have cars here?" Alice asked, but soon realized it was a stupid question. Of course there would be cars, this was her mind after all.

Hatter pulled Alice to the car waiting in the garage. When she got closer, Alice could see that it was a black and silver Dodge Ram 4x4. She got in the passenger side and buckled up. Why was Hatter helping her anyways?

"I bet you're wondering why I'm bothering to help you." Hatter said as if he could read her mind.

Alice laughed lightly. "Yeah, actually I was."

"Well I don't really know why I'm helping you. It seems like the right thing to do. Have you ever just felt compelled to do something, even thought you know it may not end well?"

"Yeah. A long time ago. Long, long time ago." Alice said quietly while Hatter backed out of the garage.

The tires of the truck hit the pavement with a squeal as Hatter turned away from the house. His speed was ever increasing and Alice began to feel the fear of a car crash rising in her throat. "C-can we slow down a little?" she asked as the trees she watched go by began to regain their life.

"Why? Don't trust me? You'll be fine." Hatter said whipping the truck around a corner.


	3. Chapter 3

A large cityscape opened up in front of them. Towering skyscrapers, short brick buildings, they all appeared to have been wasting away for a trillion years. Pieces were falling into the road here and there. Mold covered the streets, and garbage filled every nook and cranny.

"This is disgusting Hatter. What happened here?" Alice asked gazing at the landfill of a city that stood in front of her.

"The royal family has completely removed all life from the city. Everyone who didn't die from disease works in the castle as a servant." Hatter snorted. "More like slaves."

Alice looked down at her hands and then back up at the city. "What disease?"

Hatter laughed in disbelief. "Look around you Alice. Is this sanitary?"

"You have a point."

The truck plowed on through the dark, damp city streets. That was until Alice demanded that they stop. "What is it Alice?"

A low hymn could be heard nearby. Alice had heard it before; at least she thought she had. "Do you hear that?" she asked pushing her ear against the glass. She didn't dare roll the window down for fear that something evil could crawl inside the truck and eat her.

"The hymn? Yes, I hear it. It's just a spirit." Hatter said starting the truck up again.

Alice listened for another moment and then it stopped. "What's do you mean spirit?"

"Over there." Hatter whispered pointing to a black entity sitting near a pile of garbage. Alice looked at the thing it frightened her. The black thing was the same as the one that had been floating over her head in the reflection of the broken mirror in the forest. She didn't understand how such a beautiful sound could come out of something so terrifying. "What…is it?"

"It's a spirit of a person that has been claimed by disease. It's said that the Jokers feed off of them, for they have no soul of their own."

A bright light in the distanced blinded Alice. She covered her eyes and peeked out to see just what it was. A large street cleaner looking machine was barreling towards them. "What is that!?" Alice cried pointing out of the windshield.

"That's a chaser. Remember how I said the royal family had cleaned out the city? Well, that's their method of 'cleaning'" Hatter whipped the truck around and sped into a back alley. He pushed Alice out of the truck and threw it into reverse.

Alice screamed after him, throwing her arms about. "Hey! Where are you going!" she cried. She knew it was too good to be true that some stranger would just help her. Alice leaned against a brick wall and slid down slowly. She was going to die alone in this dark and foul city. She had heard that if you die in your dream, then you die in real life.

"No. I can't wallow in my pity. I need to suck it up and move on." Alice said aloud and walked to the end of the alleyway. She poked her head around the wall to her right. The chaser was gone and so was Hatter. "I knew I shouldn't have trusted him."

Alice walked along the mold covered sidewalks until she had come face to face with one of the spirits. She froze in her tracks. It stood a whole head taller than her and looked down at her. She saw it's mouth open and then close.

It moaned and wailed like a banshee. Somehow, Alice managed to understand that it was trying to speak with her. "He is…over…hill..." It wailed.

Alice half debated whether to communicate with it or not, in the end she did. "Who's coming back?" she asked.

"…man…" It wailed out.

Alice thanked the spirit and continued walking. The spirit watched after her and then began to fade away. The speaking took what life force it had left and it withered into nothingness.

Headlights were visible as Alice reached the peek of a small hill she had been walking up. She was sure they were the truck's headlights and not a chaser's. As she approached the truck, she saw Hatter standing in the bed holding a baseball bat. "What the hell are you doing?" Alice asked.

"I'm fighting off Jokers. How did you find me?" Hatter asked. "Forget that, how the hell haven't the Jokers caught you?"

"I don't know." Alice said as the city began to grow darker and darker until the only thing visible was the small light from within the truck. "Can we get out of here?"

Hatter jumped out of the truck bed and nodded. Alice got in the passenger side and buckled up. Hatter turned the truck around to go back the way that Alice had come from.

Alice looked up and saw two people standing in the road. Both of them were dressed in what looked like untied restraint jackets. They had on white pants that came over their shoes. One was a male and the other was a female. The female had her head tilted and her jet-black hair was in pigtails. The male was standing upright and his hands were behind his back, his black hair was long and pulled back in a low ponytail.

Hatter stepped on the gas and the truck lurched forward. "You're going to hit them!" Alice screamed.

"Those are the Jokers, Alice."

Alice covered her eyes and leaned back against the seat, she could feel the seat springs pushing against her back. She never felt the truck collide with anything; in fact, it felt like they had just kept going straight. Alice peeked over her hands and looked out the window. All she could see was the road. "Where are they?" she asked hesitantly looking over at Hatter.

Hatter said nothing to me, but instead he spun the truck completely around and there I saw the duo again, in the same spot, waiting in the street.

"You missed?! How the hell did you miss?! They were right there!" Alice screamed. She looked back out of the windshield look up the female was gone. "Where is she?"

Hatter's focus hadn't left the road. "I didn't miss them, they jumped. As for the girl, I don't know where she went."

Alice jerked head in every direction all at once. Out of the corner of her eye she caught sight of something looking in the door window, but she was afraid to look back. Something deep inside her knew it was the female from the road.

A blood curdling cackle came from the window, it grew louder and louder as if someone had told a joke and this person just could stop laughing.. "I'm going to get you Alice and I just might kill Hatter too." The voice was high pitched and Alice could feel her blood freeze within her veins when it spoke.

"Alice. Don't look out your window." Hatter said gripping the steering wheel until his knuckles turned white from pressure. He stared solemnly out of the facing windshield and stepped on the gas.

Alice heard a banshee like scream from behind the truck and then there was aloud thud on top of the cab.

"If they catch you Alice, you won't ever wake up. Do you understand that?"

"Yes. But why?" Alice whispered and looked at the ceiling of the cab, she worried that any minute the roof dweller would come through.

"They must have been sent by the royal family. The queen must have gotten word of your arrival."

"Why would she target me specifically?" Alice asked as the roof dweller began pounding on the cab.

"The Queen doesn't like those who are not servants to her. If the Joker's catch you then they will take you to the Queen. From there you'll become her slave, and then there is no chance that you will wake up." Hatter said spinning the truck. Alice slammed against the door. "Sorry." Hatter said.

"If I become a servant then won't I be able to access a mirror?" Alice asked holding her arm that began to bruise from it's impact with the door.

"Doubt it. They're locked up for sure."

One more quick turn and the roof dweller flew off. It was the male Joker. He lay on the sidewalk in an unmoving crippled heap. Alice watched in relief, she was sure that they had defeated one. Just as Alice was going to turn back and talk to Hatter, she saw the Joker move. She watched it stand up, bones sticking out here and there, blood soaking it's white clothes. "How is it still alive!" she exclaimed.

"I'm not to concerned about that right now. I need to know where the girl is."

The male Joker grabbed his left arm and snapped it back into place, a huge grin lay plastered across his face. He stared directly at Alice as he began moving slowly towards the car.

"It's coming." Alice said staring at it.

"Okay." Hatter said in a nonchalant tone.

"Hatter, it's coming at the car!" Alice cried and still Hatter did not move the truck.

The Joker picked up what looked to Alice, to be a metal pipe of some sort. He posed it over his shoulder as if he were ready to break out Alice's window. The Joker was only a few feet from the truck now.

"Hatter he has a fucking pipe! Move the god damned car!" Alice screamed. She stuck her leg under Hatter's and slammed on the gas petal. The truck veered down the street and into a field of weeds.

"Who what the hell are you doing!?" Hatter yelled grabbing the steering wheel and straightened the truck out.

"You were going to get me killed!"

"What are you talking about?" Hatter asked stopping the truck in what seemed to be the center of the field.

Alice stared at him in disbelief. "Don't stop the car dammnit!" she pinched the bridge of her nose. "I told you the Joker was coming for the car with a pipe. He was going to get me and you did nothing about it."

Hatter said nothing. He looked out of the truck and then inched it forward a few feet. A large white ravine appeared before them and they were on the edge of it.

"What is that?" Alice asked.

"That is the White Quarry. It the most confusing place in Wonderland, I know some people who live there." Hatter got out of the truck and stood on the ledge. Alice got out and stood beside him. She looked down into the quarry. All the rocks in it were stark white and covered in thick white jungle like over growth. There were rock formations jutting out in random places it could have easily covered a few miles. Alice couldn't see the other side of it. "Someone lives down there?" Alice asked, straining her eyes to see any signs of life.

"Plenty of people do. Mostly runaways from the castle, fugitives like you, and criminals." said Hatter jumping down onto a ledge.

"Why are we going down there?" Alice asked lowering herself down slowly.

"Well, it's extremely easy to get lost because it's so huge, and everything looks the same."

Alice looked confused. "How is that a good thing?"

"Well, the place is so large that the Jokers won't be able to find us. So you will be safe for a while."

"Won't we get lost too then?" Alice asked jumping down to another ledge where Hatter stood waiting.

"Nope, I used to play here as a child so I know how to get around."

Alice and Hatter reached the bottom of the quarry after a few minutes of steep rock jumping. All that Alice could see was whiteness; it seemed as if everything was covered in snow. "Are we going to meet someone down here?" She asked looking around for any signs of life.

"Stop looking for people. You'll never see them out here." said Hatter walking a little ways ahead.

Alice followed Hatter over and under trees and through tall weeds. Eventually she go sick of walking. "are we going to meet someone or not?"

Hatter turned back to see her a few feet behind him. "Harold DeLuca, he's an old friend and he's very knowledgeable." He scowled.

"What's your problem? I just asked a simple question."

"I haven't slept all day and I'm hungry." Hatter snipped and continued walking.

Alice followed Hatter closely but at a distance for the fear of straying to far and getting on his bad side. She understood how anyone could get lost in this quarry. Soon they arrived at a large hole in the rock face. "What is this?" Alice asked quietly.

"This is where Harold lives." said Hatter turning and leaning his head into the hole. "Harold! Are you in yet?!"

There wasn't a response at first but then Alice heard a faint voice, just barely a whisper. "Go away. Only an old Hare lives here now."

"It's Hatter." Hatter said and a man, well, hare, came out of the hole.

This was the same hare that had been at the tea party hours before. Accept this time he was dressed in a black vest and wore a purple dress shirt underneath it. His hair was thick and gray, and he had it slicked back on his head between his ears. He was quiet tall and his back was slightly hunched, he kept his hands tucked into his jacket pockets. He had on glasses that sat at the brim of his nose and he had a very large overbite. He resembled a man as much as he did a rabbit.

"Ah. Harold. Good day to you." said Hatter tipping his hat at the hare. "This is Alice." he said gesturing to me.

"ALICE? ALICE YOU SAY. WASN'T SHE AT THE TEA PARTY TODAY?" yelled Harold squinting at me.

"Yes Harold." Hatter said rubbing his temples.

"PLEASED TO MEET YOU ALICE!" said Harold grinning and showing his huge overbite. He held his furry hand out to me and I shook it softly. "I"M HAROLD DELUCA, BUT YOU MAY CALL ME HARE IF YOU'D LIKE!"

Alice winced at the tone of his voice. "Does he really need to scream?" Alice thought. "Nice to meet you Hare." She said louder than usual.

"OH THERE IS NO NEED TO SPEAK LOUDER DEAR! I CAN HEAR JUST FINE! I JUST HAVE TO YELL OR YOU WOULD NEVER HEAR ME!" said Hare stepping out of the hole.

Hatter leaned over to me and whispered in my ear, "He speaks in a very low whisper, therefore he must yell." The yelling at the tea party now made sense. All of the guest must have thought that Hare couldn't hear them because he yelled so they screamed too.

Hare looked up into the trees and his ears twitched lightly.

"We're being followed." Hatter said calmly.

"I ALREADY KNOW! I COULD HEAR THOSE DAMN JOKERS FROM A WORLD AWAY!" Hare said as he pushed past us and began to walk away.

Hatter followed him and Alice followed Hatter. "We need to get away from them." Hatter said as we arrived in a clearing that was covered in green grass, but overhead hung a canopy of the white overgrowth.

"HOW DO YOU PROPOSE TO GO ABOUT DOING THAT?!"

"A mirror." Hatter said nonchalantly.

"WELL WHY DIDN'T YOU JUST SAY SO? I MIGHT HAVE ONE!" The Hare lead them to a large round table in the middle of the grassy clearing. There were all sorts of foods set out on the table and many chairs placed around it.

"We don't have time for lunch Harold." Hatter said as Hare sat down in a red velvet covered chair.

"NONSENSE! TIME DOES NOT APPLY HERE! YOU KNOW THAT HATTER! SIT AND EAT!" Hare said patting a chair next to him.

Hatter grabbed my arm and pulled me close to him. "Don't eat the jam, butter, or mustard." he hissed quietly in my ear.

Alice was confused. "What? Why?"

"Remember when he was throwing cups at the tea party?" Hatter said walking towards the table and taking a seat across from Hare.

"Yes." Alice said sitting next to Hatter and looking at all of the food, it was fresh and seemed as though it had just been made.

"That's why."

"EAT!" announced Hare as he began to fill his plate with breads and fruit.

I glanced at Hatter who nodded at me to begin eating. "Is this even safe to eat?" Alice wondered.


End file.
